The dilemma of improving rational antibiotic use in pediatric community-acquired pneumonia

Abstract

Pneumonia is the number one cause of disease and deaths in children under five years old, outside the neonatal period, with the greatest number of cases reported from resource-limited settings. The etiology is variable, with not much information on the local etiology drug resistance profile in many countries. Recent studies suggest an increasing contribution from respiratory viruses, also in children with severe pneumonia, with an increased relative contribution in settings that have good vaccine coverage against common bacterial pathogens. Respiratory virus circulation was greatly reduced during highly restrictive measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 but rebounded once COVID-19 restrictions were relaxed. We conducted a comprehensive literature review of the disease burden, pathogens, case management and current available prevention of community acquired childhood pneumonia, with a focus on rational antibiotic use, since the treatment of respiratory infections is the leading cause of antibiotic use in children. Consistent application of revised World Health Organisation (WHO) guidance that children presenting with coryzal symptoms or wheeze can be managed without antibiotics in the absence of fever, will help to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use, as will increased availability and use of bedside inflammatory marker tests, such as C-reactive protein (CRP) in children with respiratory symptoms and fever.

Keywords: acute respiratory infections; antibiotic; antimicrobial resistance; lower respiratory tract infections; pneumonia.

Figure 1

Declining total and pneumonia-related deaths in children under five years of age*. Percentages represent pneumonia deaths as a proportion of total deaths. *Adapted from (3, 14, 91)

Figure 2

Estimated global deaths counts associated with and attributable to antimicrobial resistance in people with lower respiratory tract infection and tuberculosis in 2019*. *Adapted from (4). LRTIs, lower respiratory tract infection.